Dhaka– At least 10 people, including four police officers, were injured during a violent clash between law enforcement and members of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) outside the Patiya Police Station in Chittagong’s Patiya sub-district, according to local media reports.
The incident began around 9 p.m. Tuesday, after SAD activists allegedly detained a leader of the ruling party’s student wing, the Chhatra League (CL), near the central Shaheed Minar and brought him to the police station demanding that authorities take action.
Police officials said the SAD activists tried to create chaos inside the station, which prompted officers to intervene. The situation escalated into a physical altercation, according to a report by The Daily Star.
In response to the police action, SAD launched a protest on Wednesday morning dubbed the “Patiya Blockade,” which led to further unrest in the area.
Zayed Nur, officer-in-charge of the Patiya Police Station, told local media, “They came to the police station with a procession and beat the banned Chhatra League leader inside the police station. Later, police took him into custody. At one point during the argument, with instigating slogans against the police, they locked into scuffles with cops, and police later drove them out of the police station.”
Nur confirmed that a general diary (GD) had been filed regarding the incident and noted that four police personnel were injured in the confrontation.
SAD leaders accused the police of using excessive force. Rizwan Siddiqqui, joint convener of the Chattogram metropolitan unit of SAD, said, “Upon hearing the news, I went to the scene in Patiya. Our activists were beaten with batons by the police. Several of my brothers had to be taken to the hospital for primary treatment.”
He added that six SAD leaders were injured in the first clash. Another confrontation reportedly occurred around 11:30 p.m., during which Siddiqqui claimed nine more activists were injured.
Efforts to contact Officer Nur for further comment on the Wednesday morning blockade were unsuccessful. However, in earlier remarks to local news outlets, he reiterated that SAD members had attempted to storm the station and assaulted the detained CL leader, prompting the police response.
Local outlet Prothom Alo reported that police had no initial intention to arrest the Chhatra League leader, as no case had been filed against him. However, growing tensions led to his detention, which in turn triggered the violent scenes. (Source: IANS)
